Better Ways to Save Energy, Water?! WATCH VIDEO, Take Survey

Posted on Jan 26, 2015

Drastic times call for drastic measures! Or do they…? This Public Service Announcement (PSA) may help you decide! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyVgp2KZYX0

This first PSA, as part of a Community Partnership Outreach grant from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to The Bay Foundation (TBF) to engage the public and promote energy and water conservation, launched this week, along with an online public survey. The brief but pointed survey asks people about their views on energy and water savings to help assess awareness and bring about positive behavior change.

The PSA is by filmmaker Ricky Qi, one of National Geographic Society’s Young Explorers honorees. Qi created an engaging, funny family storyline promoting the use of energy efficient appliances to save money. Similarly, the next two PSAs by director Ryan Maples will use humor, strong visuals, and clever story lines showing how to reduce water consumption, while also promoting rainwater reuse. Maples’ first PSA will focus on implementing rainwater harvesting techniques (i.e. rain barrels, cisterns, and curb cuts) to conserve the use of potable water, and the second PSA will focus on replacing a residential lawn with drought-tolerant, native landscaping to reduce both water and energy use. Water and energy efficiency and conservation are important to the mission of both LADWP & TBF.

The first PSA is expected to air in January and can also be viewed now on TBF’s YouTube page, while the second and third PSAs will follow in February and April, 2015. All the PSAs are expected to be screened through a diverse set of media outlets including online, TV, at film festivals, and in theaters

The Energy and Water Conservation Survey is a short, 10-question online poll designed to obtain feedback from local residents about their current knowledge and perspective regarding local water and energy issues and best practices. Participants will then be resurveyed in May to assess any change in their knowledge or attitude towards water and energy conservation. The results will be used to inform LADWP and other agencies about targeted strategies for future rebate incentive and education programs. [Please click https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HTP65YN to participate in the survey.]

TBF’s Director of Watershed Programs, Karina Johnston, who teaches Environmental Sustainability at Loyola Marymount University, gave the survey to her class of 30 students at the start and end of the 2014 Fall semester. The results indicated that students significantly increased their conservation-minded behaviors and awareness of local water and energy issues as a result of their education throughout the semester. A goal of this program is to encourage and quantify these types of behavior changes on a larger scale throughout the Los Angeles area.

“We’re excited that this program provides a variety of methods to engage the public’s attention about water and energy conservation issues and that we can evaluate the effectiveness of each method to strengthen outreach efforts.” says Johnston. “Some people connect with fun, visual story-telling, and others respond to a more analytical survey approach. We hope the two methods are influential, separately or together to encourage the public to save both resources and money.”

The LADWP Community Partnership Outreach program granted funds to multiple non-profit organizations in the City to inform and energize residents and businesses to reduce their energy and water use, and benefit from lower utility bills. The program assists non-profit organizations, such as TBF, to creatively reach populations that may not be addressed through more traditional communication strategies and to affect behavior change, with the hope of applying such methods and strategies to future LADWP and other City programs. Another key goal is to see what works for tracking behavior changes resulting from outreach and education activities.

“LADWP is pleased to work with The Bay Foundation through this Community Partnership grant. These substantial grants are an investment in education and awareness that will help us encourage more of our customers to conserve electricity and water as we transition to a more sustainable energy supply and deal with severe drought conditions,” said Nancy Sutley, LADWP Chief Sustainability and Economic Development Officer.